‘Founded as a convict dumping ground, and with no central moment of self-liberation or revolution to look back on as an identity-defining event, Australians have often looked to sport as a way to define themselves.’

What? Sure, I’m part of an Australia with no historical George ‘Cherry Tree’ Washingtons but that’s, well… irrelevant. What if I’m better than a particular historical political figure (that we apparently don’t have in Australia)? What if, rather than defining myself by history or mythology, I’m going to define myself by me (and make my own history instead?) Asking ‘WW_D?’ in 21st century Australia is an anachronism; it’s like saying ‘I’m not the best person to handle my own actions’.

Guy Rundle further writes: ‘Manning Clark, one of Australia’s greatest historians, worried that the place might be “the kingdom of nothingness.” If a people with no past to speak of, have no myth of the future, no light coming from the hill, then who or what are they, if anything at all?’

Who are we? Who the heck cares? I’m Alex Willemyns, and that’s all I need to worry about. Why worry that we have no history to define ourselves by collectively, when we have the opportunity to each define ourselves how we like individually?

We, as Australians, are lucky in that we have the chance to become ‘Alex Willemyns, writer from Australia’, and not ‘Alex Willemyns, an Australian writer’. How we define ourselves to others doesn’t have to be based on anything else apart from who we are, at any one point in time. The remaining point: wanting to be defined by a large group (‘Australians’, or ‘Australian mythology’ in this case of Rundle’s) is wanting to no longer be an individual (defined by your thoughts and actions), but a part of the group (defined by their thoughts and actions).